Content

Introduction to Politics familiarises students with some of the main elements of politics and political analysis by examining the key components of contemporary political systems. These are state and civil society actors and institutions, the main ideas that shape them, and the way these actors, institutions and ideas manage key contemporary political issues, such as human rights, gender, race, the environment and welfare provision. The unit develops four threshold concepts that will both deepen students’ understanding of politics and provide them with the analytical tools to pursue further study in the politics and policy studies discipline. These threshold concepts are: first, that the allocation of resources in society and the values people hold are the product of the interaction between actors, institutions and ideas at different levels from the local to the global. Second, these interactions are shaped by issues of power, justice, order, conflict, legitimacy, accountability, sovereignty, governance and decision-making. Third, the understanding and practice of politics is shaped by competing political ideologies. Fourth, knowledge and truth are contested, partial and subjective and look very different from the perspective of different actors, thus leading to political contestation and conflict.